Kassel's Christmas Market

A few of you might have noticed the most recent blog post (before this one) that was up for about five minutes, and then not.  Entitled "Big Girl Job (?)", it was a very honest assessment of my life and work here so far, and after a moment of reflection I considered that mayhaps it was a touch too honest.  Anyway, I took it down, and it's being vetted by my Editors (my parents).  Hopefully it, or some version of it, will see the light of day again very soon.

In the meantime, let's talk about the best thing about Kassel these days -- The Christmas Market!!!

The Christmas Market opened at 11:00 AM on November 25, covering Kassel's Konigsplatz and Friedrichplatz, and as it happened I was walking right through Konigsplatz at 11:30 on my way back from a morning class.

I was supposed to be heading home for the ubiquitous lesson plan and also a much-needed trip to the laundromat, but on this day neither of these things got accomplished as I found myself wandering around, completely enchanted, for an hour and a half.  And then it started to snow!!

I'd been looking forward to The Christmas Market ever since I found out I was coming to Germany, as it was one of the first things people told me I should be excited about.  Then, in early November I first started seeing the buildings go up.  Construction took over two weeks, and every day on my way to or from work I would walk through Konigsplatz past signs for gluhwein and bratwurst, and smile, thinking about how awesome December was going to be.

And finally it was open!  I walked around it a total happy daze and eventually got a currywurst from that stand above with the pepper on it, and my very first gluhwein in a tiny boot.

There would be a fire in that thing come nightfall!

All around me, Germans were happily congregating for their own first drink of the season.  I got the impression they all had been looking forward to this as much as I was.  I was camped out here next to three truly adorable old men with various snow-covered hats, drinking their hot wine, laughing and taking smartphone photos of each other.

Even after I ate I couldn't make myself go home for a while.  I perused all the little shops and stands, and got ideas for presents.  Finally I left, but immediately texted my friend Jocelyne with the idea that we visit the market that night after work. :)

Positively delightful animatronic display in a store window

Delish roasted nuts

So, pretty much everything about The Christmas Market is awesome, but unquestionably the very best thing (just ask any German) is the hot spiced wine, called gluhwein, which is available in vast quantities and varieties all over the market.  Red, white, doctored with fruit bits, or rum, it's all good.  All hot, delicious, winey amazingness.

This, technically, isn't even gluhwein, it's another variety that was described to me by the nice lady behind the bar as having "more sugar and more alcohol" than regular gluhwein.  Fantabulous.

There is a ton of delicious food all over the damn place as well.  Counting all the quick stops on the way home from work and stuff, I've kind of been to the Christmas Market rather a lot, and so have had ample opportunity to sample a hefty variety of offerings.  Aside from the mandatory (and delicious) bratwurst and currywurst, I've also had Langos, which is fried bread with your choice of toppings, either sweet or savory; roasted potatoes with creamy dill sauce on top; roasted veggies and potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce; deep-fried apple slices topped with cinnamon and sugar; German Hawaiian pizza, and my absolute favorite offering of the Market -- a think-cut slab of spit-roasted ham served on a crusty roll, with a generous topping of sauerkraut and tatziki sauce.  I know this sounds weird but the flavors are perfect.  I've had this twice and just may make it a third before I say goodbye to this year's Christmas Market come Friday morning.  Everything is served as casual and friendly as can be, on paper, with minimal fuss and minimal waste.  It's very German and really, this whole Market epitomizes exactly what I love about Germany and German culture.  For example, instead of serving drinks in disposable cups, they come in reusable mugs and you pay a 2 euro deposit along with the cost of your drink.  After, you bring the cup back and receive your 2 euros in exchange.  It's brilliantly simple -- cuts way back on waste and gets people to bus their own tables.  Genius!!

I know there are Christmas Markets in America; I've never been to one but I just can't imagine that it's anything like this is here.  I just feel like... the atmosphere would be totally different.  Despite the free-flowing alcohol of multiple strengths and varieties, offered pretty much right on the street from 11:00 AM onwards, I've never seen a visibly drunk person at the Market.  My first afternoon, sipping gluhwein, happy as a clam and taking everything in, I had this flash that if this were to happen in America, it would be housed in a convention center over a weekend, you'd have to pay to get in and then wait in the ID-check line before getting your bracelet so you could wait in an even longer line to buy some overpriced gluhwein.  It would be served in a plastic cup and there would be a ton of mess and waste.  My general thought (possibly a tiny bit unfocused from my second cup of gluhwein in which I had requested a shot of amaretto) that in America there would just be too much dickishness.  I don't even know what I meant by dickishness, but that's the word that continues to stand out.  Anyway.

I've been to the Market a fair few times, and twice was on various Saturdays where I hoped to get my serious Christmas shopping knocked out.  And Holy Crap, the crowds that throng to the Kassel Christmas Market on Saturdays are no joke.  Everyone was still completely chill, it was just my own crowd-anxiety acting up.  But man... do Germans love the hell out of Christmas.  In taking my first real hard look at the offered merchandise, I have to admit I was just a little disappointed at a fair percentage of it.  Maybe my expectations had been raised too high, but I was surprised at how many shops and stands were selling mass-produced stuff, some of which looked awfully similar to the "authentic Nubian jewelry" I kept getting pressured to buy in Egypt.  It was disheartening at first, but after some patient and dedicated searching I was able to suss out where the good stuff was, and made some good buys to put under the tree when I get home.

Also, just a peaceful blessing to not have to worry about freaking haggling.  Just sayin'.

One of my favorite trips to the Market happened just tonight.  I met one of my students there, and we had a truly excellent time.  Ate some langos, sipped on some white gluhwein, and tried German eggnog, which is not American eggnog but pretty tasty.  She even rode the ferris wheel with me!  We had a great and easy conversation, and bid farewell to each other until 2014.

I loved getting to experience this wonderful part of Kassel and of Germany.  I'll never forget my first Christmas Market, and look forward to many more.

I'm also looking forward to getting on that plane come Friday... and stepping into my Christmas, the one with Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-in-Law, adorable Baby Nephew, and Friends.  Vodka crans and Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" are waiting!  And The Christmas Mouse!!

Tonight with my student, we chatted about our various Christmas experiences, and as I enthused about everything I loved about this holiday -- the family and food and drink and music and movies and traditions and... she smiled and said "You are a Christmas Child."  It's true!!